Hell Hath No fury Like A Woman Scorned
by IAmMattis
Summary: Takes after Joker's Death, Jericho has to deal with vengeful Harley along with some more super villians. This is a sequel to City of Moon
1. No Crime Fighting

**Hell Hath No fury Like A Woman Scorned**

Chapter 1

No Crime Fighting

_"This is Vicky Vale, Reporting live from Arkham City. it's been three months since the deaths of Joker and Hugo Strange. Now it seems Harley Quinn has taken over the operations at the Steel Mill since the escape from police custody two weeks ago. Now the reports say that she put a bounty on Batman, an unidentified brother and sister for killing her boyfriend on that night at Arkham City. Cause of Joker's death is still undetermined but ME said that he found high levels of toxin, some sort of poison. Poison is unknown at the moment. Strange's body still hasn't been found yet, but the police still looking for the man who ran Arkham city. In other news, the war between Two face and Penguin has escalated.."_

"Jericho, dinner is ready."

"Coming sweetheart."

I turned off the TV in my living room and went to kitchen where Barbara was at the kitchen table eating dinner, I sat down at the table and ate.

"So what was on the news this time?" She asked

"Harley put up a bounty on Bruce, me and Talia. And she's taken over the operations at the Steel Mill."

"Great, what is she up to this time?" Barb frowned.

"I don't know but I don't like it. I mean, first she escaped from custody after another failed attempt for revenge on the officers then she stole the explosives from GCPD lockup last week, who knows what go through that twisted, disturbed mind of hers?"

"I know, but we shouldn't worry about it tonight, no crime fighting." She said

"No crime fighting." I replied and we shared a quick kiss.

Things has gotten pretty well for us, we just moved in together two months ago, I've helped Bruce occasionally at night of crime fighting. But something is bothering him. Joker's death on his conscious, on that night in Lazarus Chamber, he believed that he broke his no killing rule when he didn't give the cure to Joker. I told him that joker did this to himself and then Talia, he told me one time he has nightmares about the monarch theatre where Talia was shot over and over again, but other than that nothing. I asked him why, but he wouldn't talk about it and it's killing him from the inside.

**Moments later.**

We were watching a soccer game on TV much to Barb's displeasure, but luckily the game was between Barcelona and Real Madrid, El Clasico in the living room, Barb was sitting on the couch with me with my arm around her neck, we wore our Barcelona t-shirts from our visit to Barcelona, I even remember when I took her to Nou Camp 2009. Good times.

**Flashback**

_"I can't believe that I travelled to see this. " Barbara said as she wore a Barcelona shirt with Nr 9 Ibrahimovic on it despite her protests of not to wear it, she relcutanly did so she would blend in with the crowd. We sat front row while El Can't del Barcelona is played_

_"Well, to be fair, it is a part of their history and culture. Remember, Barcelona FC is more than just a club, it's a way of life. Besides remember the museum on our first date? It's payback" I said while wearing 10 Messi shirt as the game started. _

_ She groaned" Next time we travel, I pick the destination."_

_"Suck it up, sweetheart. Tonight is going to be a good night."_

_"Oh, good lord. I'm dating a soccer fanatic"_

_"First of all, it's not soccer, it's football. Second, if you behave.." I whispered something in her ear that I rather not reveal._

_ She giggled a little. "Ok, I'll promise."_

_"Good, now sit back and enjoy the game." I said as we watched the match take place._

**Flashback end.**

I chuckled at that moment, god, how good it was.

"what are you thinking about?"

Nothing much, just remember our trip to Barcelona."

"Yeah, the day I became a Barca fan."

"It took some convincing but you eventually caved in, just like everybody else." She gave me a glare and I returned with a puppy dog eyes.  
She chuckled with a smile and I kissed her head as we enjoyed our night off.

**Later that night-**

I heard a knock on the door and I went to open it only to reveal a familiar face.  
"Hello Brother."

"Hey Talia. Nice to see you. What are you doing here?"

"Can't a sister visit her brother without any suspicion?"

"Come in." I said as I let her in and we went to the kitchen.

"So how's our father?"

"He's fine, he's sending his regards to you." she answered

"Figures. How you been?" i asked

"Well, considering what happened three months ago, I'm fine too. This isn't a bad time, isn't it?"

"Depends, Harley just put a bounty on Bruce and the two of us. Just heard it at the news"

"Does she never learn how to move on with her life?" She asked shaking her head  
"According to several psychiatrists, chances are slim to none." I answered

"And Bruce?"

I let out a sigh "He hasn't talked about that night, he refuses to open up about it, every time I do that, he changes the subject."

"Typical."

"Agreed." i agreed

Just then Barb came and saw us.

"Hello, Talia." Barbara greeted bitterly

"Hey. How's your legs, still can't walk?" There are some things you don't mention in front of her about and Barb's condition is one of them. Talia and Barb has their differences in the past and the fact that I'm Talias brother who is currently dating Barb makes it a whole lot worse.  
"Ladies no fighting, please." I said before it got ugly quick.

"Fine." They said in unison after a huge stare down. God, help me.

"I should go. Here." She gave me the address to the hotel she's staying at. "See you soon, dear brother."

"You too dear sister." And with that she left the apartment. I send barb a look.

"What?" She asked

"Really? Couldn't you just put your differences aside tonight."

"Sorry." She said sheepishly.  
I let out a sigh.

"Let's just go back to bed." I'm going to have a serious conversation with Talia tomorrow. she's got to have a good reason for this.


	2. Wonderland

Chapter 2

Wonderland

The next day, I came to Talia hotel room and knocked on the door.

"Jericho, I was wondering when you show up."

"We need to talk."

"Come in." she said as she stepped a side for me to enter.

"So, why are you here? If I know you, you're only here for me or Bruce, which one?"

"Bruce."

I let out a sigh. "You really need to talk to Bruce about this, you can't keep it a secret forever. You got to tell how you feel about him"

"I know, it's just, our father would convince him to take his place, he's done it several times." she let out a sigh "I just wish I was like you."

"Really?" I said a bit surprised

She nodded "You're capable of making your own decision without father's influence, you're not letting him to tell you how to live your life, I wish that I had your strength."

I looked sympathetic at her, underneath that tough shell; there is a shy girl, who wants to be independent, to live her life at her own free will. I sat down with her on the top of the bed.  
"Why us, Talia? Why have we to be the ones that suffer the most? What have we done to deserve a life like this?" I aske about our family curse.

"The sins of our father, I guess." Talia answered

I chuckled "I just hope that God will forgive us for our sins."

Just then we heard two cars pulled out on the driveway. I went to window to see what was going on.

"Alright, go and search the hotel for the broad, Harley Quinn wants her alive." That was one of the Harley Quinn's henchmen and that could only mean trouble. They were armed too.

"We have to get out of here now, Harley Quinn's boys just showed up, she wants you alive."

"How?" Talia asked worried

"I don't know, someone tipped her off or, something. Pack your stuff, we gotta go now."

She wasted no time to do that. Once she's done that we got the hell out of there. We hid quickly when we saw one of them at the hallway. "Come out come out wherever you are." The thug called out

"Talia, you see the emergency exit door?" She nodded "we have to make a run for it, there's too many of them to take on. On the count of three, one two three, go!" we ran through the exit door and went to the rooftop. "I found her! She ran through the exit door!" the thug shouted. Once we got to the rooftop, we had to look for an escape route. We saw a fire scape on other side and went for it. We jumped for it and we made it well almost, Talia almost lost her grip but I grabbed her hand in the last minute and helped her up. We went back to the ground recuperating.

"What now?" She asked

"We better head back to my safe house, it's our best chance we got."

"Then why are we still here?" she said as we went back to the safe house but got stopped by one of the henchmen. "well, lookie here. I found her, boys she's at the alley" he shouted as they came, we tried to run the other way, but to no avail.

"Remember, beat her up but not too rough, Harley wants her saved up for her personal revenge." The thug said as they surrounded us. It looks like we have to fight. They were 6 of them.  
"Ready to do this sister?"

"Remember St. Petersburg?" Talia countered

I chuckled at that. "Are you kidding? I remember. Let's do this." I said as we made our first move. Two of them tried to punch us but we caught them and twisted them, dislocated the shoulders. Another thug swung a punch blindly at Talia and she responded with a spinning kick while his friend tried to thrust kick but I caught his leg and broke it in two. The last one I punched his face and Talia finished him off with a kick between his legs. Ouch, she took a queue from my book. We saw a door that and got in to an abandoned buliding.

"We're safe for now, sister. " I reassured Talia but that was about to bite me in the ass

"I beg to differ." A new voice said and everything went black after that.

I regained my vision not long and looked around to see that we were in some sort of a tearoom. I was all tied up in a chair and Talia was sitting next to me tied up as well. There were two teacups that was right in front of us. It was sitting on a fine tablecloth and surrounded by other teacups and snacks. The guests were no better as they were clearly thugs but they were all wearing rabbit masks. A bright light blinded my vision.

"Tea, Brother and Sister?"

A high pitched voice asked as the figure before me poured tea on. The light was too bright making it hard to see who it was. But I recognize that voice. It was Mad Hatter and his sick obsession with Alice in Wonderland.

"Where are we? What have you done with us?" Talia demanded, she was pissed off and rightfully so.

"Oh you see like dear Alice you two have stumbled into a world beyond your imagination," He explained.

"You should have been more careful, then again Batman would have seen that coming a mile away."

"Go to hell Jervis." I growled

""Oh, yes, yes, yes, I know that dear boy." He chuckled. "You both are very special individuals and it will be my pleasure to show you Wonderland just like Alice."

"Too bad, we'll pass on that offer, we heard that Oz is nice this time of year." I said sarcastically to that demented freak.  
"You better watch your tongue, boy." Mad Hatter snapped as he stood up on the table

I rolled my eyes at that, what a drama queen.  
"Whatever."

"Let us free." Talia said.

"Oh no, you see you have no say I make all your decisions now." He said as he walked over the table to us.

"Don't. Even. Think. About. It!" I yelled at him as he approached us.

"Oh just let me put this on you two and all your questions will be forgotten." He said as he revealed a watch in his right hand and then put something over our heads and blocked my vision. "Your mine now Brother and Sister."

You two will do everything I say." His voice was so controlling.

_"Don't listen to him." My inner voice said_

"You will do anything I want you to do."He said again as I wanted to say yes.

_"You are not his lapdog. Break out of this." _

"You will obey me and me alone."

_"Never!" I started to feel my arms again._

"Your eyes are heavy and they feel like lead, you want to keep them open but you just can't find the strength."

_"You can do this, almost there!"_

"Your eyes are heavy and they feel like lead, you want to keep them open but you just can't find the strength."

_"Now!"_

I broke free out of that mind control and so did Talia as we appeared apparently in some sort of dark void and standing on a clock. I gasped in horror as I saw her face, it looked a disfigured rabbit that looked like it was killed Talia had the same reaction when she saw my face.

"No no no no, that's impossible. You can't be doing this."

Hatter shrieked as his goons appeared out nowhere and started to attack us. one of them punched at me but I grabbed it and threw him at the other thugs. Talia was holding her own back as she took out three of them, man they are ruthless. Clock slowed down as Mad hatter showed up. I tried to attack him but he vanished into thin air.

"Goddamnit!" I was getting frustrated as more of his goons showed up. Everytime he'll show up, he disappears.

We don't know how much longer we can hold our own. Then I remember what my dad said recognize the pattern of a criminal. I had to do something. "Talia, do you see the air pattern?" I asked and she nodded realizing what was I thinking. As we took out some more of the thugs, we followed the air pattern and the moment Mad hatter showed up at the spot we both punched him knocking him off his feet. He waved his arms around trying to beg us to spare his life but first I wanted to add insult to injury for trying to make us his slave as I grabbed his stupid top hat and threw it on the ground before Talia stomping on it with my foot I then raised my fit and sent him off to Neverland.

And we returned to the land of reality, we looked around of what was a dining room and we took off both our masks.

"I think I have to stop drinking tea for awhile." I said

"I agree, Brother."

"Come, let's head back to the safehouse." And with that, we went to the safe house


	3. Bane

Chapter 3

Bane

After we went to the safe house while Quinn's boys were still looking for us. After they left I called Barbara to fill her in of what just happened.

"Barb, we got a problem, Harley's men showed up at the hotel, they came looking for Talia."

"Did you guys made it out?" Barb asked worried

"Yeah, barley. Unfortunately Mad Hatter kidnapped us and after that weird trip to the wonderland, I think it's safe to say that I won't be drinking tea for while. I'm going to have nightmares after that."

"I know, so where are you now?"

"In the safe house outside of the museum in Arkham city."

"A safe house, in Arkham city?" Barbara asked a bit surprised.

"I built it a couple month agos, figured that I needed to plan ahead in times like this." i answered

"How did you manage to keep that a secret?"

"It's me, remember sweetheart?"

She chuckled "Why am I not surprised? Alright, moving on, I just heard from the police feeds that Harley Quinn attacked a SWAT team and kidnapped two police officers. They've been held at the industrial district. Dad has initiated a lockdown there, it's being suppressed at the moment but the story will break soon."

"Is Bruce looking into it?"

"Yeah, also I heard that someone put a distress flare at the abandoned Kranko Toys building. Robin is currently busy with saving hostages from Victor Zasaz. So I want you to go there."

"No problem, I'll get changed and head out."

"Good luck." Barbara said as she ended transmission. I turned to Talia.

"Alright, I'm going check out this place. Will you stay here or do you want to follow?"

"I'll think I'll stay here. Be careful, brother."

"I will." I said when I headed to get my suit. Thankfully I haven't change that any bit of it.

**Moments Later **

When I entered the Kranko toys factory, I saw a certain Luchador with a storage tank on his back.

"Hola Bane." That means "hello" in Spanish

"Hola, so you must be Jericho."

"Oh, you've heard of me, I don't if I should be flattered or nervous." I smirked. "I'm in no mood for fight, Bane. What are you going here?"

"Dr. Young's Titan formula, the clown managed to send some off Arkham Island before Batman stopped him."

"I know, Penguin had his own Titan guards." My face darkened at that remark of my visit to museum. "How much did he get off the Island?" I asked

"Too much, that's why I am here. I will not allow the basura of this city to abuse the Titan. Dr. Young used me to create it, it is my duty to destroy what remains."

"Alright, I'll help you. But understand this, if you double cross me, I'm taking you down too, we'll find Titan containers, we destroy them, ok?" I stated the terms of the deal knowing that he wants titan for himself, but I have a plan.

He chuckled

"Of course. They were twelve of them left in this city, each has its own radio transmission built in. we take six each then we meet back here."

"No problem, you better not screw up the deal, Bane. Remember that." I said as I left the building.

"Huh, Honesty my ass." I said as I went searching for the containers, most of them were in the steel mill. They were difficult to find but I managed to take out 3 of them with some explosives.

The last three were outside of the museum. They were guarded but I took them down easily.

"This is for you, Doc." I said as I took care of the last one.

After that I went back to Bane.

"I destroyed the containers, Bane." I said

"Good, now we.." He was cut off by some thugs entered the building.

"Give us the Titan, Bane!" Awesome

"Help me, Jericho. We must not allow these puppets to take the Titan."

Bane said as the fight took place. Two of the goon's tired double team me but I evaded in time and smashed their heads together, the third goon tried to kick me but I countered it and gave him a clothesline from hell. The fourth had a knife in his hand, I disarmed him and broke his arm in two. Bane took out the rest of them with ease considering that he is on Titan himself.

Once it was over we continued where we left off.

"Now as I was saying before I was rudely interrupted, I've destroyed the containers, have you destroyed the others?"

"In a matter of speaking, yes." Bane answered as he said as he opened a garage door to reveal six containers of Titan. Hehe, he was falling to my trap, so far so good.

"Titan is too powerful to be used against me, I needed all for myself, Jericho. Now do me favour and DIE!"

He roared as he charged at me but I dodged him as Bane ran into a freight elevator. Then I pulled out my gun and fired a round into the switch. Heavy bars sealed Bane into the elevator as I walked over to the Titan.

"Did you really think that I was that stupid, your big ape, huh? I knew I couldn't trust you, so I used you to gather the remaining Titan. Now i can put Dr Young's problem to rest, p_ermanently!_" I said as I put the explosives walked from them in a good distance and detonated them

"No!" Bane screamed in vein as the containers were destroyed, brains beat muscles any day of the week.

Have a nice day, _Junior_!" I said as I left the building, they never learn. When I was outside, I looked up to the sky with a small smile on my face.

"That was for you, Penelope. I hope you're proud of what I've done." I said as I made a cross knowing that Dr. Young was in a better place.


	4. Deadshot

Chapter 4

Deadshot

"Jericho, Someone just made a SOS call on the frequency. I managed to locate the place, it was coming from the old Gotham FM building." That was Barb she called me after my confrontation with Bane. I was back in the safe house with Talia.

"Did you identify who called it?" I asked

"Negative."

"Alright I'll check it out. Heard anything from Bruce yet?"

"No, in fact he hasn't since he went to the Steel mill. I'm getting worried."  
"Don't worry, babe. He'll be alright, he can take care of himself."

"I know. Be careful."

"I will." I said as I ended the call.

"I'll come with you." Talia said.

"Really, I mean. Considering that Harley is still looking for you."

"I'll think that would be the least of our problems." Talia reassured me

"Ok, if you say so. Get dressed." She nodded and she went to put her leather outfit on.

After she got dressed, we went to the Gotham FM Buliding, when a man appeared from nowhere frightened.

"Please, you gotta help me."

"Don't worry, everything is gonna be alright. Just try to calm down. "What's your name?"

"Jack Parker."

"Jack, why are you here in Arkham city?" Talia asked in a calm voice.

"Strange, that vindictive bastard. I tried to prevent the former mayor Sharpe from building Arkham city in the first place. But Strange bribed everyone at the congress, so when Sharpe was elected and Arkham city was built, Strange arrested me and put me in this godforsaken place. He made me even work on the tower for six months."

"Do you know who's following you?"

Yes, it's.."  
Bang! A clean shot through the head.

"What was that?" Talia asked looking around where the shot came from with worry look on her face.  
"Sniper, shit." I answered

All I can hope for is that he didn't hear the shot that killed him. Sorry, pal.

"Oracle, we got a problem. We found who made the SOS call. His name was Jack Parker, he's dead."  
"What happened to him?" Barb asked

"Clean shot the through the head, it was so precise that there's only one man who can pull it off from that sort of distance. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" I asked, Deadshot is here

"Trust me, I wish you weren't. But I thought Shawn got every political prisoner out of there." Barbara answered

"Apparently, not all of them. Run a background check on Jack Parker and pull up everything on Dead shots pattern, I'll have to stop him from taking another innocent life." I said as I looked around for another potential vic.

"I think he might done that already." Talia said as she found another victim this time it was on a street.

"Ah, damnit." I sighed. "Oracle, we found another victim. Got anything useful?"

"Yeah, but not the one you'll like. It turns out that Jack Parker's sister Sara was one of Sharpe's supporters in his campaign, money laundering. I checked her bank records; she emptied it a month ago, meaning that was when Sharpe was sentenced to life in prison, she got out of dodge in an attempt of not suffering the same fate. Unfortunately she was shot at a café in Miami three weeks ago, same M.O. as her brother."

"Looks like Deadshot's trying to clean up the mess, Strange must have some sort of a backup plan. Alright, Talia and I'll check out the location, we'll follow the trajectory where the shot came from." I said as we went follow the trajectory. After some time, we found the location and discovered some interesting clues.

"Deadshot made a huge slipup."

"Really? That's definitely not a part of his M.O."

"He doesn't even know it. He used a tripod to steady the shot, which was fortunately for us because he left a trail. The trail is some sort of a metallic compound, it means that wherever he stored his weapon, must be made of that compound." I explain

"So what are you waiting for, analyze the particles and isolate the area they came from." Barbara said but I knew better then that.  
Talia and I sighed,

"This isn't our first day at the job, Barbara. The particles contain a small volume of a specific lead compound that was used in paints for a short period of time several years ago. Even if I could do that, it would be too many locations to check. Deadshot's getting sloppy, so when he makes another mistake like this, we capitalize on that." I said.

"You know, you and Bruce are so alike." Barbara stated

"Am not." I disagree

"Are too."

"Am not"

"Are too."

"Am not."

Talia chuckled "You two have the weirdest relationship."

"I know." I agreed as we left the scene.

Moments later, we found another body, this time it was outside of a camp. The victim was hiding behind a car when he was killed. Talia and I examined the scene and found a bullet hole. After I scanned it, barb called me.

"I think I've found the link between Deadshot's victims."

"Let's hear it out. He's killed again. We have to stop him." I was dead serious now.

"Jack was not only an activist, but also was a specialist in wireless broadcast technology. Strange made him work on the Tower communication system." Barb explained

"And the other one?" Talia asked

"Can't find anything on him, which is suspicious if you ask me. But he was previously hired in several military projects specializing in advanced weapon delivery system."

"Deadshot is definitely cleaning up Hugo Strange's mess. I'll track the shot to see where it came from. Good work, sweetheart." I said

"Anytime, my love." She said in return

I chuckled at that.

We found the location and it turned out that he lied down for the kill shot. Luckily I scanned the spot and found traces of that compound, we nailed him.

"We got him Oracle. I've isolated several distinctive plastic base particles and identified the items that used this material in their construction."

"So looking at the possible alternatives, my guess is that you decided to check out the substations, correct?" Barbara asked

"You know me so well, beloved. Cross referencing this against locations that was definitely contained the metallic compound from the second crime scene gives us.."

"Three locations, you did it. You're going to catch that son of a bitch." Barbara finished

"We'll let know you what happened, mark the map on my cellphone." I said as I took out my IPhone and went to check out my map.

"What's this?" Talia asked she stood next to me looking.

"You see this? These are three locations that matches the forensic profile, meaning that Deadshot could be on any of these three." I said and we left to find the substations the first two was useless but the last one that was outside of Iceberg Lounge was definitely used by Deadshot

When we opened it, we found a PDA inside and hacked it.

"Hey take a look at this, this is a list of his targets. Strange smuggled him to Arkham city in case Protocol 10 backfired and gave him his hit list of targets of anyone who is a threat against him. Alright, he's down to three targets." I showed Talia the list and she was imminent concerned when she saw it.

"Bruce is on the list including Batman and some man named Jack Ryder." Talia said

"What?!" I exclaimed, "Son of a bitch, Deadshot's on a tight schedule. Jack is his next target, if we don't save Jack in three minutes, he'll have a death certificate. Come on sister, we have to go now!"

We wasted no time to get there; Jack was outside of the main gate. Just when Deadshot pulled the trigger, we got there in time; Jack's life was saved. We hid behind a wrecked car.

"Talia, get him out of here now. " She nodded and helped jack to get out of Arkham.

Later I was hiding behind a brick wall while deadshot was on a platform carrying some weapon artillery.

"Where are you, you little Batman wannabe?" Deadshot demanded.

I had to move quickly once his back was turned, using my stealth training. I went under the platform and waited for the perfect opportunity.

"Who the hell are you?" Deadshot asked as I appeared behind him.

"I'm Jericho." I whispered to his ear that startled him and knocked his lights out, down for the count.

"Too easy, baby. Too easy." I smirked over my victory..

Talia and I locked him up in an old cart hanging near the museum. "You don't look so tough now, Assclown."

"Wait until I'll get my hands on you two, you will regret the day you messed with Deadshot!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Blah blah blah. Enough with the threats, you'll bore us to death. Seeiah, don wanna be ya.." I joked

"Bye, you fool." Talia said the last words as we left the sight.

We sat down on a ledge of a rooftop admiring view of Gotham.

Talia rested her head on my shoulder. There were moments like this that time just stood still.

"Gotham is really a charming city, brother."

I chuckled. "Is isn't?"

"Do you think that God will give us a chance for redemption?" She asked

"In time, my dear sister. In time." I replied knowing that it will take time as we enjoyed our brother and sister bonding.


	5. The Mark

Chapter 5

The Mark

We were about to head back when we heard a phone booth ringing outside of the museum. We went to the booth and I picked up phone to answer the call.

"Hello, my new friend. Do you recognize my voice?" that voice just send a shiver through my soul.

"Victor Zsasz." I snarled

"In the flesh, I'm so happy that you've heard of me, I take it that you're with your sister, correct?" I didn't answer so he knew it was a yes. "That's what I thought, I got a special game for you brother and sister. A game just for you, ring, ring."

He ended the call. Talia and I shared a look of fear.

"This is not good, brother."

"No kidding. We better contact Barb." I called Barb on my earpiece.

"Oracle, Have you heard from Robin about Zsasz yet?" I asked

"Yeah, he's just got the last hostage out of Arkham, but Zsasz escaped, why?"

"Zsasz just called me from a phone booth, says he has a special game for us." I answered

"Dear God." Barbara said

"You said it. I need you to trace the next call and locate every phone booth that he could call to in Arkham city."

"Way ahead of you, be especially careful with Zsasz, he is extremely dangerous."

"I know." I agreed as Talia and I searched for a call from Zasaz. When we were outside of the courthouse, we heard a phone booth ringing. We got there as fast as we could.

"Ok, Talia, you answer the phone, I'll do the talking." She nodded and answered the call

"Speak." Talia demanded

"Oh, you sounded impatient, sister. That is good, that is very good. You and your brother will need that to answer my little game. You may heard that I've been providing salvation to the mindless drones luckily enough to answer my calls." Victor ranted

"Hardly salvation. More like fixation when you take innocent lives." I argue.

"That's a question of perspective. For an example, from where I'm standing, I can see three little piggies just waiting for me to cure them of life. From their perspective, I imagine they see things differently."

"If you hurt them, Zsasz. I swear to God we will hunt you down and beat you to death." It wasn't a threat, it was a promise.

"I bet you will, but first let's play a little game. Right now there is a phone ringing in Arkham City. I know it's a big place, but you need to find it. Take too long and they will die. And don't try anything clever. I had a friend to help me bounce this signal through every relay from here to Bludhäven. You'll never find me. Now hang on that phone and start running. Ring, ring." He said as he hung up.

"How are we going to get there in time?" Talia asked worried

"I have an idea." I answered as my Chevy Impala showed up. We got in the car and drove to the nearest phone booth and got there in time.

Talia picked up the phone and waited for Zsasz to talk.

"Did I ever tell you about my first kill, brother and sister? No. As I am sure that you have not heard of, my parents were dead and I was rich. So rich that I could have anything that I ever wanted but I wanted them back of course. I know it's impossible now but back then I had yet to experience.. the joy of cold steel cutting through warm flesh. I had no idea how I could save these people from the misery of their existence."

"You should have stayed that way." I stated

"Really? Then I should stop now. Find another telephone, brother and sister. Goodbye."

As we drove to find another phone booth, I had to contact Barb.

"Oracle, have you found Zsasz's location?" I asked

"No, not yet. Damn, tracking the signal is more difficult than I thought." Barb answered sounding a bit frustrated

"In other words the process is slow. He is crafty, I'll give him that."

"No argument from me."

"Alright, keep tracing his signal. We'll find him." I said as we parked outside the church and got out of the car.

"How long do we have to listen to this madman?" Talia asked getting a bit impatient, can't say I blame her.

"Long enough until we find out where he is at." I answered as we found another phone booth and picked up the phone. Zsasz started to ramble about how his life had taken a turn for worse as he went for gambling or vice versa. That's when his story gets a little bit interesting. He formed a plan so to speak in an attempt to get his money back and what a better way to do it then in the Iceberg Lounge owned by Penguin.

"The Iceberg Lounge was crawling with the disgusting flesh of humanity. You could find anything there if you had the money of course. At the beginning I seemed to be winning The cards all went my way and I found myself at the owners table. Some reason I thought that I would win, that he would play fair. I looked around the table. I saw the people that I was against: card sharks, thugs, princes and that disgusting midget who ran the place. One by one they all lost or folded, the chips were pilling up and it was just him and me." He said as he hung up. we got in to the car and drove to the next phone booth.

"You know he talks a lot like our father, except that he's talking about the road to his salvation." I said

"You mean like killing people for no reason and providing _'salvation'_ to the mindless drones as he like to call them?" Talia wondered

"Yeah, like a some sort of act of God. No wonder he was diagnosed clinically insane." I said as we got to another phone booth and Zsasz continued his story.

"They called him the Penguin, even back then. He had both eyes of course, that little accident hadn't happened yet. And both of them were looking at me when I put down my cards. The six of clubs. The six of diamonds. He looked scared. He leaned forward and I could smell the cigar stench on his breath. The six of spades and finally, the six of hearts. I felt good. Then he started laughing, he belched out smoke as he put down his cards. Card by card, my heart sank. A three, a four, a five, a six, a damn seven. His straight flush ended me there and I was thrown out into the city, penniless."

Damn, even back then, Cobblepot already ruined the lives of people who were lost in a sea of sins, mentally. That sick son of a bitch.

"Oracle, how many more calls do we have to answer?" I asked Barb

"Two more. I'm running a bypass to locate his signal. Almost there."

"Good" I said as Talia picked up the phone.

"Can you imagine what it was like? I was numb, I had lost everything and I was alone. Crying like a baby, staggering through the streets of this city until I found the answer that I was looking for. I stood there on the Sprang Bridge looking out to the sea. I felt the warm breeze on my skin and it felt right. I looked down and imagined myself falling into blessing arms of my mother until he appeared. He held out the knife and demanded my money. My money! Can you believe it? I looked into his cold, desperate eyes and I saw something familiar, something evitable. I saw oblivion; I saw that we are all the same, stuck on a miserable loop demanding for salvation. So I gave it to him."

After he hung up, we went to another phone booth for a last call.

"Can you imagine the vagrants surprise when I grabbed his knife from his hands? It was instinctive, it was beautiful. In one movement I sliced out his throat and gave him the gift of salvation. It happened so fast but I felt every joyous sensation. The blood sprayed in my face as I saw what was left of little life in his eyes leave. But then it was over, I was lost. Like it had been meaningless, no one would acknowledge my sacrifice and then it happened. Without realizing what I was doing, I plunged the knife into my forearm and made a deep cut. I felt my body elevate to a higher place. It had become a temple to my work."

He said as he hung up for a last time.

"I got his location, his other hideout is at Industrial District." Barbara

"Good work, sweetheart. We're heading there right now." I complimented her as we drove to his refuge and got there.

We had to be careful of not alerting Zsasz as we entered through the ventilation system. He was in a control room, three hostages.

"You will probably praying I will end your lives quickly, I won't." He then started to laugh sinisterly as we entered through the window; I threw a flash bang that stunned him temporarily and Talia took him down quickly knocking him out.

When we freed the hostages, we locked Zsasz into a cage.

"This is not over. It can not be over. My blade will bathe in the crimson rivers of blood that will pour from the holes of your body. You cannot deny me the mark. I need to make the mark. It's all I have left." He pleaded but it was to avail. I shake my head sadly, poor bastard.

"You should let me kill him when I got the chance, brother."

"I know, but some people are not worth the killing. Besides, if you did, it wouldn't make any difference."

She sighed knowing it was true as we left.

We were heading back only to hear someone calling us out. We turned to see a vengeful window dressed in black with some of her goons.

"Well, well, well. If isn't brother and sister jackass. I've been waiting for this since the death of my puddin." Harley said as we were knocked out cold.

As they say, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.


	6. Azarel

I woke up groggily, oh my head hurts. Man that hurts I looked around to see we were in a dark room. Talia was still out, I shake her to wake up.

"Sister, wake up. Come on, wake up."  
She did eventually.

"Where are we?" she asked still a bit taken out as I helped her up.

"I don't know, but I have a bad feeling about this. They took our weapons." I answered

just then two goons opened the door.

"Time to go, Harley wants to see you two personally."

"Impose to what, disco dance?" I said sarcastically.

"Shut up. Move it." He ordered as we moved. It appears that Harley took us to Gotham Cemetery. We went to two graves with Harley standing across us.

I realized what she was about to do. She's going to buries us alive, a Texas funeral.

"You two have ruined my life on that night three months ago." She then turned to Talia

"You stole that cure from me, so you could give it to your beloved Bat-brain." She then turned to me

"AND you! You beat Mistah J to a pulp. Now you will pay for what you've done, Texas style."

"Texas style?" Talia asked confused.

"She's going to buries us alive, sister." Her eyes widened at that.

"You whore." Talia said

"Am I really? I'm in mourning." Harley said as she circled around us, trying to keep her emotions in check

"I'm sorry for your loss, but Joker did this to himself, he was killed in a battle, a battle he started." I said

Harley was furious.

"Shut up!" she hit me with a shovel. I went down to my knees holding my head in agony, she hit me again with a shovel.

"You, dig now!" She threw the shovel to Talia then left sobbing with her guards carrying her.  
I had to admit I almost felt bad for her.

"Dig." The thug ordered and Talia started to dig. Sure Harley lived a bad life, but I of all people knew that living with this grief would be payment enough for any sins. Perhaps not so bad as my sister was about dig our own graves and these lowlife idiots is about to kill us without getting their hands dirty. We shared a look planning some sort of escape in our heads

Talia dug up the dirt and threw it into thugs eyes and hit the other with the shovel.

I took advantage of that and punched him hard knocking him out.

"Are you alright, brother?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Let's go and find our weapons."

"Shouldn't we question the baboons here?"

"Of course. How?" Talia asked

I gave her my trademark smirk. I knew exactly how to get the info.

**Moments Later**

"No! Let me out of here." Thug pleaded as he was in a coffin begging for his worthless life. Talia and I stood there next to him.

"Where is Batman and what have you done to the missing cops?" I demanded.

"He is at the Steel Mill, he tried to save the missing cops, but Harley trapped him. As for the cops, they being held up by Harley."

"Where are our weapons?" Talia asked

"At the morgue in the church. Please don't bury me."

"I won't, but my sister will." I stated

"No!" thug yelled as Talia shut the casket and lowered the coffin to the ground.

As we got to the morgue and got our gears, we headed out of the cementery. I called Barbara.

"Oracle, we were ambushed by Harley."

"What?! Are you alright?"

"Yeah, we're fine." I reassured her then I let out a sigh.

"Harley's got Batman, The missing cops were bait for him and Harley got to him."

"Damnit, I should've of known. I'm got an emergency signal from his utility belt just moments ago." Barb said

"Which means that he's still alive. Ok, we're heading there to Steel Mill once we took care of our injuries. Tell Robin to meet us there."

"Will do. Jericho." Barbara was serious "Find him, please."

"I know." I agreed as I called for my Impala to show up.

Once the Impala arrived , we got in and drove back to the safe house.

"I don't want to go through it again. It was terrifying." Talia said.

"You and me both." I agreed, it was scary.

As we parked outside of the safe house and got out of the car, a man appeared in front of us.

"I have been watching you, Brother and Sister Al Ghul. To see if you're ready." He then vanished into thin air.

"Who was that? How does he know our names?" Talia asked

"I don't know, he left me a symbol, better scan it. And hopefully we find him" After I scanned it, I recognized what it was. It was coordinates; he wants us to find him.

We followed the coordinates to the courthouse. There was the mystery man again.

"Are you the ones that the prophecies spoke of?" he said as he vanished and left another symbol. I scanned it and we found him at the roof of the GCPD.

"We have been watching you for a long time, brother and sister Al Ghul." He disappeared once again and left a symbol once again. After I scanned it, we found him at the museum.

"The moment is close, the truth will soon be shown." He disappeared and there was another symbol. After I scanned it. My cellphone showed on maps that the 4 symbols created a huge sigil that fits over the map of Arkham City. After I directed the symbols, they have marked a point on the map.

"Talia, I think I know where he is going to be."

"Where?"

"The Church. Come." I said as we went to the church and saw a big ass symbol, after I scanned it, he showed up. gotta tell you, he made quite a entrance.

"I knew you would find me." The mystery man said

"It wasn't hard, you left us a map." I stated the obvious

"Who are you, and what do you want? Why are you watching us?" Talia asked

"We have been given many names, but you will come to know me as Azrael, loyal servant to the order of St. Dumas." Azrael answered

"Just what we need. Another secret society." I chuckled at that, oh the irony.

"I bring a message: dark days are coming, Brother and Sister Al Ghul. The Prophecy is coming true, you are the warriors who will close the gates of Hell, you are the ones who will save this day, and in doing so, events will occur that you cannot stop, from the ashes of Arkham the fires will rage and Gotham will burn, and you, you will burn too."

"If you say so." I stated

"Believe what you will. The message has been delivered. We will meet again."

"Looking forward to it." I said as he left.

"Huh. Azrael."

"What do you mean? Who is Azarel?" Talia asked confused

"In the Bible Azrael is The Archangel of Death and the name is in Latin, meaning God Helps." I replied

"Oh, will we see him again?" Talia asked

"I think so." I smirked. "Come, let's head back to the safe house." We went back.

Azarel, he is quite a character.


	7. Saving Batman

Chapter 7

Saving Batman

After Talia and I took care of our injuries at the safe house, we met up with Robin at the Dry Dock outside of Steel Mill.

"Hey, glad that you two could make it after what Harley did to you two. Barbara filled me in. you're for it?"

"Robin, you know us. Since when have the Al Ghuls ever backed down from a fight?" I said.

"True." He said as we walked over to see Harley with the missing cops. She is armed and boy is she ever dangerous.

"Sweetheart, we found the missing cops, Harley's got them." I said

"Any sign of Bruce?"

"Negative, but we'll keep looking. Harley's telling that she got some sort of plan for them, they'll be safe for now." Robin answered

"Be careful"

Hey, this will end ok. We promise." Robin said

You think, he's not been the same since." She sighed "He won't even talk about Talia or Joker."

"You know I'm listening to the communication, Barbara." Talia

"I know, it's just that you really need talk to him."

"She will and don't' worry darling. We'll help him once we find him. That's all we can do."

I reassured Barb and we saw Harley arguing with the cops.

"Please. The GCPD will storm this place." One of the cops revealed

"Really? I. Don't. Think. So." Harley said

"You're crazy!"

"No, I'm in mourning. You may want to remember that." Harley snarled.

"That sick bitch." I stated

"No argument from me, Jericho." Robin agreed.

We left the dock and entered to a pump room through the vent. Of course the corridors crawled with henchmen but they were easy to handle.

"Anything?" Harley asked over the speaker

"Nothing yet, if anyone comes this way they'll regret it." thug said and he was carrying a rifle with laser

"You better. I've lost contact with the rest of the guys and I don't like it." Harley said as I snuck behind him and put him in a sleeper hold.

"Hello? Are you there? What's happening?" Harley asked in confusion

"Oh, for the love of.. What's wrong with you people? Hello, whoever you are, I know you're there. Do you hear me? I know you're there and it's too late."

I rolled my eyes as we entered to the warehouse. Some goons surrounded batman's utility belt.

"go on, pick it up."

"No way, man. That thing is dangerous."

"He's right, you know." I said as the thugs turned to us.

"Get them!" they charged at us but we evaded and punched three.

One of them had stun rod and swung at me but I did a spinning kick, took the stun rod and electrocuted him in the nuts, no kids for him in the future. Talia and Robin took care of the rest. Once the fight is over, robin picked up the utility belt.

"Tim, Jericho? What's going on? Have you found him?"

"Sort of." I said sheepishly

"What do you mean?"

"Don't worry I think we're close." I said as we went further and entered of what was a memorial place for the Joker. Bruce was trapped in a monument for him.

"We found him." Robin called to Barb in the coms

"Thank God. Is he ok?" Barbara asked relived

"Quinn's got him trapped." Robin answered

"Well, get him out of it."

"It's not that easy, sweetheart. Harley's built some sort of monument in memory of the Joker and it's stopping us from getting to Batman. We're gonna search the area and find out how to save him." I said as we looked around the place.

"Damn, I've seen some crazy stuffs, but this place is whole buckets of crazy." I said

"I agree, brother." Talia said a bit sad and I put my hand on her shoulder assuring that we will save Bruce.

Robin examined the security panel.

"The security panel appears to control the statue. Batman will die if we don't find the key. I guess we should find Harley Quinn and ask her for it."

"Then why are we still here? Let's roll." I said as we went to the Docks. When we got there, we split up.

"Listen up, Dumb-asses. I want this place secured I don't care how you do it. Just don't let me down." Harley said as I silently took care one of the goons who had a cop as a hostage. Talia took care of a sniper while Robin saved another cop.  
They were down three excluding Harley. I took one on the ground, while Talia and Robin took care of the last two. I grappled to the ledge and waited for Harley to come near me.

When she came, I surprised her and took her down. "I got her!" I shouted for Robin and Talia to get there.

**Moments Later**

"The key!" Robin demanded as we interrogated Harley Quinn.

"You will never find it Dumb-ass!" Harley said

"Oh, really?" I stated as I found the key hidden in harley's cleavage.

"No! That's mine. Let me go." Harley tried to reached it.

"As you wish." Talia said as she pushed Harley off leaving her hanging there on the ledge.

"Alright, I'll go and save batman, you take the cops to safety." I said as I went back to the memorial place. I went to the security panel which activated the statue. The statue threw the ball shaped cage down and Batman punched through and got out.

"What kept you?" Batman said as he walked over to me.

I shrugged "How should I know?" I said as I gave his belt back.

"What happened to the cops?" Batman asked as he put his belt back on his waist

"Robin and Talia are taking them to safety as we speak."

"You don't need to worry about them Bat-brain. They'll be dead soon, oh and so-will-you!" Harley said as a door revealed a bomb with a terminal.  
"Come on, let's handle the bombs." I said as we went to disarm the bomb.

Batman used his hacking device to hack in terminal, I punched it through and destroyed the bomb. I examined it and I realised what was made of.

"Son of a bitch, the bombs had been made by the explosives Harley stole from the GCPD lockup last week." I said

"Harley Quinn hasn't changed the detonation frequency. I'll calibrate the cowl to locate any objects tuned into this frequency." Batman added as he calibrated and we went searching for the bombs. We moved to a warehouse there was a sniper guard across the bomb. I grappled to the ledge and took out the sniper. After that Batman destroyed the second bomb. We went to another warehouse and found the last bomb. I destroyed it of course.

"Well, I suppose that you two pleased with yourself. Well don't. it's over, I won't let you!" Harley said through the speaker as we returned to the memorial return where Harley stood on statue's hands.

"Did you two think it was gonna be that easy? Well, think again Losers!" The robots were activated and they surrounded us

"Ready for this?" Batman asked

"Just old times old man?" I smirked

"Definitely." And the fight was on. "Haha, Destroy them, my robots!" Harley shouted

I took on two of them while Batman took three, man those were hard to beat.

I put on some explosives while they blindly missed me, I detonated the explosives and took them out.

"NO fair, that's cheating!" Harley whined

"Aw, is little Harleen a bit sad about her toys?" I said in mocking baby talk which harley gave me a death glare

Batman took the rest of them out but it wasn't over.

"This is it, you me and the only thing that can stop this entire place blowing sky high." Harley said as a bomb appeared. I got there and took her down and grabbed the remote. I pushed the button, but nothing happened

"Take it, dumbass. Won't. Do. Any good." Harley said as the countdown went 5 4 3…

Outside of the building, Gordon went looking when the building exploded.

"No." Gordon said in disbelief. But another explosion came and out we came out with Harley and landed on the ground from a store down.

"You should've let me die. Then I could've been back together with Mistah J."  
"Shut up." I said as I turned to Gordon. "Where's my sister and Robin?"

"I thought they were with you." Gordon replied and my heart sank

"No. No. No. No." I said in devastation

"It hurts don't it?" Harley stated

"What have you done?" Batman asked in rage

"Now you know how it feels!" Harley said.

But when we turned our backs, Harley brought out a knife and tried to attack us but from out of nowhere, Talia took her down and knocked Harley out. Robin showed up a bit after that.

"You're welcome, brother." Talia said

"Don't do that, again. You had me worried" I said and she nodded

"Where're the cops?" Batman asked

"They're safe." Robin replied

"I'm done here." Batman said and he left.

"Hey, kid. Is he alright?" Gordon asked

"Yeah, of course he is. Come sister, let's leave this place." I said as we got to the Impala and drove back to safety while Boogeyman is played on the stereo. it's been one hell of a night.

_You know everybody's scared,_  
_Everybody better beware_  
_Scared of spiders, scared of rats,_  
_Scared of being crossed by cats_  
_Scared of everything that moves,_  
_Scared of things with cloven hooves_

_I ain't scared, live my life allright_  
_I ain't scared, to stand and fight_  
_I ain't scared, 'cos I believe_  
_Ain't scared, to wear my heart on my sleeve_  
_Ain't scared to show my hands_  
_But I'm scared of the boogeyman_

_You can't boogie with the boogeyman,_  
_You can't boogie with the boogeyman,_  
_You can't boogie with the boogeyman,_  
_You can't boogie with the boogeyman,_  
_Hold out any way you can,_  
_But don't mess with the boogeyman_

**Boogeyman by Motörhead**


	8. Epilogue

Chapter 8

Epliogue

Next day I drove Talia to Wayne Manor and went inside for Bruce and Barb. It was time for her to confess her feelings for him

"I don't know if I can do this, brother." Talia said a bit doubtful

"Hey, you'll be alright, sister. You have my support on this. Go get him, Mistress." I said as she went to find Bruce. "Hey, Jericho." That was Barb as she came to me.

"Hi." I kneeled for a kiss and she accepted it of course. "How do you feel?"

"Tired and exhausted. You?"

"The same, so is Talia gonna confess?"

"Yeah, she's doing it right now. Come on let's give them privacy." I answered as we went to my car.

"Where're we going?"

"To a place I never visited in a long time." I replied as we went to a cementery to visit a grave. When we got there we visited a grave that I haven't visited since I left for Siberia.  
My mothers grave. I put a white rose on the ground to pay my respects. Barbara looked at me sympathetic

"When Mom died, I kinda went on a path of destruction. I killed so many people when I was an assassin. I've even tortured many life with no remorse physically and mentally. I lost my humanity when she died like I lost my soul. I did my dad's biddings and didn't question everyday I lost a bit of myself" I was getting every emotional at that. "And there's not a day that goes by thinking what I've done, hoping that God would forgive me for my sins. This thing inside of me, is what called guilt and sorrow. For the past three years, I've been heard voices in my head of everyone I killed and… and Him." I pointed down to the ground showing the voice of the devil. "I feel like my soul is burning inside of me, telling me to kill myself, but everyday, I pray hoping that God will give me strength to pull it through. I wish that I couldn't feel a thing , Barb. I wish that I couldn't feel a damn thing."

I said and I couldn't fight the tears as I went down on my knees crying, Barb went there to embrace me. I sobbed into her arms as she let a few tears escape.

As I was on the rooftop admiring the view of the Gotham, I couldn't help but think that this is my place. After what happened I felt like I had finally found inner peace like I wasn't the only one who had lost loved ones. This is where I belong.

"Slow night, Jericho?" Batman asked as he stood next to me

"Depends. How did it go with Talia?" i stated

"Why don't you ask herself, brother?" Talia said as she arrived.

"Went well?" She smiled which meant yes and I knew in that moment they were together forever and ever. Then we heard sirens coming from the street below.

"Time to get to work." I said as we went for another night of crime fighting. Yep life was officially good now.

_On this day I see clearly everything has come to life _

_A bitter place and a broken dream _

_And we'll leave it all behind_

_On this day it's so real to me _

_Everything has come to life _

_Another chance to chase a dream _

_Another chance to feel _

_Chance to feel alive _

_I've been defeated and brought down _

_Dropped to my knees when hope ran out _

_The time has come to change my ways _

_On this day I see clearly everything has come to life _

_A bitter place and a broken dream _

_And we'll leave it all, leave it all behind _

_I'll never long for what might have been _

_Regret won't waste my life again _

_I won't look back _

_I'll fight to remain:_

_On this day I see clearly everything has come to life _

_A bitter place and a broken dream _

_And we'll leave it all behind _

_On this day it's so real to me _

_Everything has come to life _

_Another chance to chase a dream _

_Another chance to feel _

_Chance to feel alive _

**Metalingus by Alter Bridge**


End file.
